The night before Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with the president of Mexico and deliver a long-awaited speech on immigration, he barely mentioned his signature issue at a boisterous rally in Washington state.

There were no calls to build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it, or a deportation force to deal with the millions of people who are in the country illegally. Instead, the sole reference to immigration at the Everett, Wash., rally Tuesday night focused on the drug epidemic.

"We are also going to secure our border and stop the drugs from pouring in and destroying our country," Trump said. "And I'll be talking about that tomorrow night in Arizona -- big speech on immigration, Arizona tomorrow night.”

He's served in the Senate for nearly three decades, but never has John McCain faced a reelection like this year. 

The reason? Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, who has been a persistent presence in McCain's bid for another term.

On Tuesday, McCain defeated his main challenger in the Republican primary, Kelli Ward, a former state lawmaker and staunch Trump supporter. Based on initial returns, McCain outpaced Ward by double digits, enough for the Associated Press to call the race.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to sit down with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, both politicians confirmed Tuesday night. 

"I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow," Trump said in a Tweet. 

Pena Nieto's office said in its own Tweet that the two will meet privately Wednesday. Pena Nieto's office said in a statement Tuesday that the Mexican president extended an invitation for a meeting Friday to Trump as well as his rival, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The union representing more than 50,000 stage actors and managers has officially weighed in on one of the biggest shows of the year: the presidential election.

The Actors' Equity Assn. voted Tuesday to endorse Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton — the first time in the group's 103 years of existence that it has taken sides in a presidential race.

Union members were compelled to make their voices heard during an election that union Councilor Francis Jue said was about such issues as “whether people can carry guns into theatres.”

After waging an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Sen. Marco Rubio sought — at the last minute — reelection to his Florida seat.  

And on Tuesday he staved off a primary challenge from wealthy developer Carlos Beruff to advance into a November battle with Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy, where Rubio is certain to face questions surrounding his endorsement of Donald Trump. 

Trump also endorsed Rubio in his reelection bid, despite a bitter presidential primary — rife with personal insults — in which the two sparred on, among other things, immigration.

He wasn’t softening on anything. He didn’t change his stance on anything. 

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will appear at a big-dollar luncheon fundraiser Sept. 12 outside Chicago.

Attendees at the event at the Bolingbrook Golf Club, in Bolingbrook, Ill., will contribute as much as $250,000 per couple, according to a copy of the fundraiser invitation. Top tickets include "prime seating," a "photo opportunity" and a place at a special "VIP roundtable" prior to the luncheon, which is cohosted by Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar.

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Republican billionaire Meg Whitman, in her first appearance on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton, wouldn’t rule out serving in a Cabinet position if the Democratic presidential nominee wins the White House in the fall.

“We’ll see what happens,” Whitman told KUSA-TV in Denver, adding that she enjoyed her life in California and was committed to Hewlett-Packard, where she is chief executive.

Whitman, a lifelong Republican who unsuccessfully ran for governor in California in 2010, has previously made clear her distaste for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. She has called him a “dishonest demagogue” and compared him to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.